Finally found you
by Mikelson19
Summary: What if Rory and Logan never make it official. Instead of talking to Logan what if Rory runs. She leaves Yale and goes to Columbia. What if Logan realizes just how important she was to him too late. Will they find each other again or will they be apart forever.
1. The Departure

Rory had never thought that she would be that girl, the girl who leaves town just because a boy doesn't like her back. Rory was heartbroken; she never expected that her feelings for Logan were going to interfere in her school work.

The day she met Logan in his dorm to end their casual dating arrangement, while she was still talking and he goes off to take the call from Cassandra, the one with a great accent.

She stares at the blue door still not sure that happened until she hears him talking on the phone; she turns around and leaves the room. She dodged his calls and he for a week after she sees him in front of the Rich Man's Shoes with a blonde with a great accent the very next day.

It was then she had a crushing realization that she fell for him, his crooked smile and his wit, he was smart, funny and good-looking but apparently she was not good enough, Rory had never been not good-enough.

Sitting in her room that night she makes a decision that she will transfer, she will run away, like she often does. She didn't like the person she was becoming, the mopey weepy eyed, crushed over a boy kind of girl. She schedules a dinner with her Grandparents as they were the ones paying for Yale.

At seven she knocks on their door and is ushered inside by the maid of the week. Her Grandpa hands her a soda and sits beside her Grandma, they both exchange glances, finally Emily breaks the silence.

'Rory dear, what is the matter you wanted to speak to us about?'

Rory takes a deep breath and says, 'I want to transfer from Yale.'

They did not expect that from her, Emily had dreaded that she might be pregnant but this was not much better, while Richard was surprised that his Granddaughter wants to transfer, he knew that she is a strong girl and he wanted to know just what could make her want to leave a fine institute like Yale, he had an inclination that it might be because of a boy. Emily was again the first one to respond.

'Why? Why would you want to leave Yale? It the best fit for you, it is near and you can come home every weekend. Also where would you like to go if not Yale? It's not as if there are many other great schools out there which are better than Yale.'

After Emily is done with her rant there was a silence in the living room. Richard stares at Rory and finds great sadness lingering in her eyes. Her eyes remind him of how Lorelei looked in the days prior to her running away from home. It was Rory's eyes that make his decision for him. He decides to stop Emily from saying something that might make Rory not trust them.

'Rory, dear where would you want to go if you leave Yale?' he asks.

'Columbia. It is not far, well not that far. I can still come over every other weekend. The reason I chose Columbia is because it is the home of the Pulitzer and I want one preferably before I turn thirty, plus new york will have much more opportunities to intern in newspapers that I want to be a part of one day.'

Richard knew then and there that Rory was hell bent on transferring; asking him and Emily was her being the good Grand-Daughter she is.

'Okay we will support you but I have a proposal for you. We will pay for tuition and you will live in our Soho condo. It is a little bigger for you but New York is not as safe as New Haven as you don't live alone here. There are only two conditions. You are our only Grandchild and your mother has repeatedly made clear that she does not want anything from us but we come from a long line of Gilmores who have made their family richer by each generation, our family has a various number of businesses most important one of them is my insurance company, I may have retired but I still have majority shares in the company and we own a successful chain of hotels and resorts, we have over sixteen fully operational resorts and hotels and two are under construction. I want you to have a business major along with Journalism. You are our only heir all this was going to be yours ultimately but I want you to be prepared so that you fully understand the working of the family business. Your mother never bothered to learn anything about the business; she used to run away whenever the topic was being discussed and to think after all that rebellion she went and opened her own inn. She will never accept this responsibility as she would never leave that town but you have your whole life ahead of you don't limit yourself to a single state or town just because you feel like you owe it to her, trust me she would not want that for you.'

Rory was stunned by the information overload, even Emily was silent, and she agreed with Richard, Rory needed to step up as their heir.

'That was only one condition, which I will agree to Grandpa, what is the other one?'

'My other condition might be hard for you to accept. Your mother does you no favors shielding you away from the part of society that you one day be invariably a part of, as the heir to the Gilmore fortune. I want you to join the DAR.'

Rory looked stunned while Emily looked as if Christmas had come early.

'You will join the DAR in New York. Don't think it's all about old society women planning galas and discussing each other's home décor. They do some real charity work, you can join the Literacy Program and the organize Junior American Citizen Contests. You can organize fund raisers for the homeless shelters or women's home or anything you want but I want you to be a part of the society as the Gilmore heir. Do you accept Rory?'

Everything inside Rory was frozen it was a lot of information in way less time, but she could see her grandparent's point, everything her mother did was a rebellion against her parents, she had a rich family history that she never knew of, she could not even imagine what her grandparents bank accounts looked like. She wanted time, she wanted her Mom but she knew Lorelei would want Rory to give a big a screw you to Richard and Emily and would want her to stay as close she could to her. Rory wanted out, out of Connecticut, even if New York was not too far it was far enough that she would not see some people she so desperately wanted to avoid.

'I accept grandpa, will you please arrange my transfer as you know the Dean of Admissions.'

With that Rory had sealed her fate, she would be what her mother feared the most, a society heir.

It took three weeks for the transfer to be complete; she got a letter of recommendation from Doyle so she could apply for the Columbia Spectator.

When she told her mother about the transfer, as expected their there were fireworks, angry words and some tears. Lorelei was all set to give her parents a piece of her mind when Rory shouted at her. Rory had never raised her voice in front of her mother; to say she was shocked was an understatement. Rory explains to her how this transfer was her choice and she could back out if she found the conditions too much for, when she explained the excess of Gilmore fortune Lorelei was stunned, she had always ignored her parents when they talked shop and now to know the extent of what Rory would be inheriting was just too much to comprehend. Emily and Richard had given Rory her trust fund which had more than twenty million dollars. Lorelei didn't want Rory to become a society brat, she had shielded her from it for nearly twenty years and now Rory was making her big debut into society, joining the DAR, majoring in business and journalism. Lorelei could not comprehend how to handle all of it so she did what she did best, she lashed out. Angry words and tears and then Lorelei blamed it all on Logan. She knew her child was hurting and she wanted to rip his head off but Rory made her promise that she would stay away from Logan, it took Lorelei three days and several gallons of Luke's coffee for Lorelei to even talk without wanting to lash out. She then reluctantly supported Rory and helped her pack her stuff in Stars Hollow as she would have much more space to fill in the fancy Soho condo.

The day of the big move was nearly here, Rory had already sent all her stuff to the condo. She had gone to meet the Dean of Admissions to thank him for the help he had been in her transfer as she let his office she bumped into someone, when she looked up it was Finn. She had been avoiding not only Logan but his friends too, seeing Finn on her last day at Yale; it seemed as if the universe was playing a joke on her. As she looked further she saw Colin too but thankfully no Logan. Well thanks for small favors. She had bonded with Colin and Finn in the little time she and Logan were seeing each other. Finn looked at Rory and probably for the first time greets her normally.

'Well hello, love. Fancy seeing you here, you in trouble?' he asks in his fancy accent. Finn and Colin had been there because Finn had gotten a prefect mark on a test and the professor thought he had cheated even some of their friends had a hard time believing it but Colin knew that Finn had a sharp mind and had an elephant's memory. The Dean of Management was satisfied by Finn's knowledge of the subject and let him go.

Rory lets out a little laugh and says, 'Really Finn? Me? Don't you know me at all? I was just here to thank Dean Barnaby for the transfer'

She freezes momentarily as so do the both of them. She had not meant to tell them that. She looks wide eyed at them panicking inside.

'Transferring, why and to where?' Finn asks while Colin stares at her with a knowing look in his eyes.

Rory does not say anything and just gives him a little smile. Finn was a sweetheart, she would miss both of them and she would miss their third man even more.

Colin was conflicted he knew that Rory had fallen for Logan, he had seen that happen many times before but Rory was different, she had innocence about her that none of the other girls had not even Stephanie and he was completely in love with her. He knew in his heart that Logan was the reason for her transfer; he could be really cruel when he wanted to be. He took Rory's decision of wanting to end the casual relationship as a challenge as if to see how long it would take for her to breakdown and come back to him. Rory had stood by her decision and had never looked back which Colin knew infuriated Logan, he made sure to have a new girl on his arm every day and insured Rory sees him. Colin thought that Rory might make it work with Logan but Rory lacked the fight that needed to be fought to get through Logan's thick head.

Finn on the other hand wanted to throttle Logan and put some sense into his scotch addled brain, Rory could have been the best thing for him but he trampled over her heart, Finn along with Colin knew that Logan liked her and was lashing out as he usually did but apparently it was too much for Rory as she was leaving.

Rory didn't want Logan to know about the transfer, she had a panicked look on her face that Colin and Finn noticed.

'We will not tell him if you don't want us to.' Colin said.

He and Finn had a serious look on their faces. Rory decided to be honest with them. She told them about Columbia, about her grandparents' conditions and the trust fund. She was overwhelmed and finally could talk to someone who had had the experience of fulfilling family obligations. Colin and Finn were conflicted they wanted to punch Logan; they knew that he would regret letting her go.

Colin and Finn walked her to the town car waiting for her in front of her dorm as she was leaving for New York that very day. They hug her goodbye and promise to meet her when they would be in New York as their families resided in the city.

They were busy making future plans and promising Rory that they would not tell Logan anything that none of them saw a pair of brown eyes frowning at them. He does not notice the town car or the small bag she has in her hand.

Rory leaves New Haven wanting to start a new chapter of her life but held onto the memories and the good times. _It'll be fun, it'll be a thrill. Something stupid, something bad for you. Just something different,_ he had said and all of it was true. He was different and he was bad for her but she still and probably would always want him. He was her **_once in a lifetime experience, _**only problem was that she wanted him for a lifetime.

It was late at night when Logan knocked on Rory's door, when he did not get an answer immediately he shouts for Ace to open the door. The door opens and Logan is surprised to see Paris and Doyle staring at him, Paris with with hate in her eyes.

'She is not here. You can leave.' Paris shoots venomously at him.

'Of course she is here. It is a school night, she never misses her classes and it's not Friday so she is not at her grandparents' home.' He counters back.

'For someone who doesn't want anything to with her you know awfully lot about her but he fact is that she is not here and will never be here again ever. Congratulations you have officially become the biggest looser as you have lost the only person who would have loved you for you and not your surname, so go ahead and celebrate find a dimwitted blonde and make out with her and never come back here again.' Paris says in her shrill Paris voice while Doyle looks at her in awe.

Logan on the other hand was confused, 'What do you mean she is not coming back? She has to she goes to school here. She does not miss classes and I know for a fact she has an early morning class tomorrow.'

Paris stares at him like she is evaluating him, as if she is deciding if she wants to tell him anything or not. It was Doyle who puts him out of his misery.

'She has transferred schools. It was her last day here today. She has already cleaned up her room and moved her stuff.' As he gestures towards Rory's room.

Logan walks past them and enters Rory's room. It was bare. All the things that marked it as hers were gone except for a single photo frame which was lying face down on the counter table. Logan picked it up already knowing what he would see. It was his and Rory's picture from her grandparents' vow renewal ceremony. Rory had many photographs on her counter table and Logan had featured in two of them, he was holding one in his hands and hoped she had the other in which they were looking at each other at the life and death brigade jump.

He walks out of the dorm with the frame still in his hands and marches to Colin and Finn's room, slamming the door he shouts for them. Colin and Finn come out of their rooms and are surprised by the furious look on Logan's face.

'Where is she? I know you both met her today. Tell me where she went?' he shouts at them.

Colin and Finn look at each other; the latter shrugs and sits down on the couch. Colin took a deep breath realizing it was up to him to explain to Logan that Rory had left.

So with a deep breath he explains how the both of them bumped into her and how they talked about her and her moving away. He did not give away any details about her location to him and could see that Logan was frustrated that he was being evasive but he kept his promise to her.

'What do you mean that is has transferred? Why did you not tell me? Which school did she transfer to?' Logan shoots question after question. It was Finn who decided to be blunt with him.

'We mean that Rory our little love has left the grounds of New Haven and Connecticut to go and explore more the world has to offer. We did not tell you because it was none of your business and we figured that you really didn't care about her which is evident by you sucking face of some new girl every night. We are not telling you which school she went to because she asked us not to tell you. She went away to be away from you, she was hurting. It pained her that she meant so little to you that you did not even wait a day to find another girl while she was wasting away, so no we are not telling you. You do not deserve it, I know you like her more than you like to admit but for a change we want you to feel alone like she felt. She has become our friend and were you not my best mate I would have throttled you with my bare hands.'

Logan and Colin stare at Finn with their jaws slack. It was the biggest speech they had ever heard Finn give while being sober. Finn gets up from the couch and walks to his room slamming the door in his wake.

Logan looks at Colin pleading him to tell the truth but he too echoes Finn's words and leaves Logan alone in the living room.

For the first time in long time Logan Huntzberger had to face the consequences of his actions. As Paris had said he had lost the only girl who would have loved him as Logan and just as the Huntzberger heir.


	2. The New Life

It had been three months since she had moved to New York and it was safe to say Rory loved it. She loved the city, the bright lights and the food, oh God the food, New York was heaven for the Gilmore girl. Columbia was everything and more she wanted. Her classes were going good, even the business classes were great and engaging. Rory had never failed in her life and she was determined to not fail her grandparents. The Columbia Daily Spectator was one of the best student newspapers, she had secured a place in the staff all thanks to the recommendations Doyle and all her teachers had written for her. She met the staff twice a week and had already had two bylines in the paper.

The condo Rory was staying in was like a dream; it was modernly styled but still had the elegance of Emily Gilmore. Rory had slowly made it her home. Her mother was still a bit bitter about her move and had not once visited her in New York but Rory had been to Stars Hollow twice to visit her.

Rory as promised had joined the DAR. She had attended the weekly luncheons and it was there she had met with Finn and Colin's mothers. Portia Rothschild and Stella McCrea were the epitome of social grace. On the instance of their sons they had taken her under their wings and were helping her fulfilling her role in the organization. She was organizing a fundraiser for a women's shelter in Queens, it had caught fire a few months ago and was condemned.

Her grandparents were very proud of her but the more they praised Rory for becoming the perfect society daughter more her mother felt unnerved. Lorelei wanted to whisk away her child and hide her in Stars Hollow, away from the society hoopla but she felt helpless as Rory was enjoying her life. She had weekly luncheons with the DAR ladies, fortnightly meetings with the Gilmore business managers and she still was keeping up with her school work and the paper.

Rory was very happy with her busy life as it did not give her any time to think about Logan. Two weeks into her self-imposed exile to New York she came to the conclusion that she is in love with Logan and as much as it hurt she did not want to get over him. So she did not date but she had made some great friends including Tristan and Finn's sister Rhea who was also studying in Columbia who at Finn's urging had sought her out. Tristan was the very same former bad boy of Chilton but he had tempered down in the past two years and was a good friend to Rory now. Rhea had become close to Rory and shared her love for coffee. The both of them would study together and occasionally shop together. Tristan had a girlfriend; Stella who Rory got famously along with, Rory had a good life in New York but still whenever out with friends she would sometimes look to her side hoping that Logan was there. Finn and Colin kept in touch with her and would talk to her almost every day and they even visited her twice without Logan as they had the excuse of visiting family. Rory was already a hit with their mothers and even their fathers liked her too.

Over the past months Rory had developed a good relationship with her father, he after the death of his father had moved to New York along with Gigi. He had overtaken the duties of the Hayden business which was mainly focused on publicity and advertisement management. It was a firm which handles publicity for many celebrities and sport teams as well as crisis management. All the years of making trouble for his parents had made her father well versed in getting people out of it. He was doing a good job as the company was flourishing. Gigi was enrolled Chilton elementary school and was doing great. Rory met with her and her father every Friday and called her grandparents that night too. They were always happy to hear from her especially Emily as she had feared that Rory would distance herself from them after moving to a new city and would resent them for making her to agree with the conditions of the move nut Rory diminished her fears as she still kept in contact with them and met with them when they came for the meeting with the business handler every two weeks. Emily could see Rory was sad that Lorelei had not been to New York even once but she did not mention it to Lorelei as she knew that she would only resent her and not make an effort to come to New York. Rory's improving relation with her father made inroads for her other Grandmother Francine to enter her life. At first they only exchanged pleasantries but the more she saw Rory the more she fell in love with her eldest grandchild. It had been Starub Gilmore who had dictated that they stay away from their granddaughter but now freed of that Francine made sure she was a part of her granddaughters' life. She had moved to Hayden house in the Upper East Side while Christopher stayed in their apartment in Soho to be near Rory. She took active part in Gigi's school activities as work kept Christopher quite busy and she had coffee with Rory once a week and invited Christopher, Gigi and Rory for dinner every Tuesday at Hayden house. She too attended the DAR meetings with Rory and was happy with her role in the organization.

It was almost summer break but Rory had no time for rest. One of the two Gilmore projects that were under construction was complete and Rory was invited to get a complete tour of the resort. It was situated in Monaco and after three years it was open for business, the opening coincided with the Grand Prix, on Christopher's suggestion the hotel had sponsored the stay of the drivers and the crew, it had generated huge publicity for the resort. Rory was going there for a week along with Tristan, Stella and Rhea, Finn and Colin were meeting them there after two days. Rory was excited about her first trip without any supervision of authority figures.

They were leaving the next afternoon and were taking Finn's family jet.

It was almost time for summer break and Logan was sitting alone in his dorm. Colin and Finn were in New York visiting their families which they had done increasingly in the past three months. Logan was alone, for a man who had almost everything he was completely alone, ever since Rory had left Finn and Colin had formed camaraderie against any girl who tried to come close to him. Logan knew that they both liked Rory but apparently he had underestimated their attachment to her. He knew that they knew where she was but they never told him anything. He had heard them talking to her once when he reached their dorm a little early. Hearing her voice had stopped him in his tracks, she was laughing as Finn told her about his attempts of wooing Rosemary. When they saw Logan they hurriedly said goodbye and none of them mentioned about it again.

He was lying on his bed tossing a ball up in the air and catching it. By his bedside stood the picture frame he had taken from Rory's room, he would look at it every day as it made him believe that she was not a dream. Today Logan had a particularly bad day, his father called him and wanted him to intern at one of his newspapers. He wanted to go away for the whole summer to some country where his father had no business. Logan had always shied away from any sort of responsibility and had enjoyed his summers by a beach in the company of his friends and girls who flocked them and their fortunes. But this summer even his friends were embracing their responsibilities, Colin's family had an investment venture which is highly successful and Colin as the heir to the business was required to shadow his father in the office to learn the ropes of the company so that his transition into the office would be easier once he graduates. Finn's family had their fingers in multiple pies, they owned shares in the New York Knicks, a vineyard in Napa valley and in France and had a construction company whose headquarter is in New York. Finn had always projected an image of a drunk but not everyone knew the sharp brain he had, Finn had always been interested in his family's work and he was the only one of the three of them who is close to his parents. He is too interning at the New York headquarters.

Their fathers are friends had must bragged about their sons taking up responsibility in the family business not wanting to be outdone Mitchum Huntzberger wanted his son to intern at their London branch. Finn and Colin were all set to leave the next day and Logan was scheduled to leave in the morning. He hated how little choice he had in his own life, it was not that he didn't like to write or couldn't write it was that he wanted to choose to be in the newspaper business. The Huntzbergers owned newspaper all over the world; his father was especially famous for buying out dying papers and turning them into profitable ventures in a few short months. Logan had always feared that he would not be good enough and would seem like a privileged brat who had no talent for the job but only because he is the owner's son.

But as usual he had to do as he was ordered. He had packed and was ready to leave in the morning for London. He was driving with Finn and Colin to New York and was taking his flight from there.

In the morning Logan drove to the plaza while Finn and Colin went home. He knew that they were going to Monaco for the Grand Prix but he could not join them as he was to be in London. His flight was scheduled to take off at the Teterboro airport, after a quick lunch he sent a message to his father telling him that he was leaving, he exits the hotel and gets into the limo asking Frank to drive him to the airport. While in the car he talked to his sister, she is the only one in the family that he is close to. She asks him to take care of himself and promises to visit him in London. Logan turns the call off and looks at the phone background; it is a picture of him and Rory at her grandparent's house when they had the male meat market party for her. They were in the pool house sitting on the sofa both of them drunk but completely comfortable with one another, Rory had her head on his shoulder and he had his arm around her. Finn had taken that photo in an attempt to make fun of him later but now it was one of the few things that brought him joy when he looked at it. He was staring at the picture when he gets a call from Colin. His friends even though they did not support his letting Rory walk out of his life had been very supporting. They might glare at the girls who flocked him but they understood his fear of commitment. They were disappointed but they were the ones who did not let him fall apart completely. He knew that were going to meet Rory during the break but he also knew that they would not pick a side if he asks them to.

Reaching the airport he puts his luggage in the trolley and walks in. the private lounge he waits for his plane to be called. The room was filled with people too busy to pay attention to anyone else. He was engrossed in the newspaper when he heard someone call out her name. It was a blond haired guy who had called her name. He turned his neck slowly to check if it was her and indeed it was. She had changed in the past three months, she looked older and more mature, and her hair was longer. She hugged the blond guy and he could fell his chest tightening, beside her was another girl, she was a brunette she too hugged the guy but hers was lingering and she kissed him too. At the kiss Logan let out a breath he did not know he was holding. They did not settle down but collected their bags and went away to the boarding gate.

Logan did not move he had not expected to see her here. He always thought that whenever he would see her he would hold her and not let her out of his arms but nothing had prepared him for the possibility of actually seeing her. He took out his phone and called Finn. He told him how he saw her and could not move a muscle or gather enough courage to call out her name. Finn heard him rant about his failure to call out her name for about an hour quietly, in the end he only said that while he was away from everyone in London for two months he should think why it was important that he kept the picture from Rory's room by his bedside, why he had not dated anyone seriously and why he had not slept with anyone since she had walked out of life. He said if he could answer these questions and if was if he was satisfied by his answer by the time he was back from London he would tell him where Rory was.

With his spirit lifted a little he went to London.


End file.
